Previous bitumen compositions have various kinds of polymers added to the bitumen to improve the cohesiveness and adhesiveness of a road-surface binder made from the bitumen composition. For example, German Pat. No. 1,644,771 describes a composition comprising up to 95% by weight of an aromatic petroleum asphalt and at least 5% by weight of a copolymer of ethylene and an acrylic or methacrylic acid ester that contains 10 to 40% by weight of an ester.
The roadwork, highway and construction industries are concerned with improving the performance characteristics of road-surface binders. In particular, it is desired that road-surface binders exhibit excellent cohesive and adhesive properties.